Folding car-step.



No. 727,755. PATENTED MAY 12. 1903.

' G. E. CUNNINGHAM.-

FOLDING CAR STEP.v

APPLIUATION FILBD'Nov. ze. 1902.

No MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented May 1'2, 1903. I

PATENT OFFICE.u

FOLDING CAR-STEP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. |17273755, dated May 12, 1903. Application filed November 26,1902. Serial No. 132,923. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE ERNEST CUN- NINGHAM, a citizen of the United States, ref siding at Macon, in the countyof Bibb and State of Georgia., have invented a new and useful Folding Car-Step, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in folding car-steps.

The object of the present inventionfis to improve the construction of folding steps for railway-cars and 'to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eicient device designed to be applied to passenger-coaches and similar conveyances and adapted when extended to form a continuation of the stationary steps to obviate the necessity of using a box or similar device for the ingress or egress of persons.

A further object of the invention is to provide a folding car-step of this character which will be securely held in its folded position to prevent it from accidentally working outward and which may be quickly released and drawn outward froml its folded position.

The invention also has for its object to pro-A vide a folding car-step which may be readily transferred from one side or end of a car to the other or from one car to another when` desired.

The invention consists in the construction in the accompanying drawings,l and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a folding step constructed in accord-V ance with this invention and shown folded. Fig. 2-is a side elevation of thesame. Fig.

3 is a front elevation of the folding car-step,

the same being extended and arranged for use. Fig. 4 is a side view of the same. Fig. 5 is a sectional view, the step being folded and locked in such position. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view illustrating the manner of pivoting the hanger or riser bars. Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the hanger, or riser bars. Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the supporting-bars.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 1 designate side plates provided at their upper edges with inwardly-extending. horizontal fianges 2, secured by lrivets Sor other suitable fastening devices to the lower sides of approximately U-shaped springs 4, which are arranged horizontally and which engage a stationary step 5 of a car. AThe U-shaped springs form resilient clamps for frictionally engaging the car-step to enable the folding step to befreadily applied to the same and to permit the folding step to be quickly 4transferred from one portion of a car to another or from one car to another, as desired; but the upper sides of the springs may be provided with perforations 6 for enabling them to be screwed or otherwise secured to a car. rllhe lower sides of the springsare arranged at the lower faces ofthe flanges 2 of the sideplates, and the friction is sufficient to hold the folding step on a stationary car-step While the latter is being operated, as hereinafter explained. The side plates, which are provided with longitudinal slots 6, are connected by front and rear rods 7 and 8, having threaded ends eX- tending through perforations ofthe plates and receiving nuts which are arranged on the outer faces of the plates. The slots 6, which have horizontal front portions, are provided with inclined inner portions, and they receive slides 9, consisting of plates arranged on theouter faces of the sides or plates 1 and provided with lugs or' enlargements 10, arranged in the slots. The slides are perforated for the reception of a rod 11, which pivotally and s lidably connects a -pair of hanger or riser bars 12 to the sides or plates l, and

the`slides are adapted to move freely inward and outward in the slots. The hanger or riser bars, which are provided at their upper `or inner ends with-integral arms 13, are perforated for the reception lofthe transverse rod 11and their lower orA outerends are perforated for the reception ofV a pivot .14 for connecting the supportingbars 15` torzthe riser-bars.A l The pivot preferablylconsists of Aa rod and the adjacent ends of the hanger or riser bars, and the supporting-bars are..pro vided with curved edges16and117 and'with inwardly-extending lugs 18 and 1-9,`Which limit the pivotal movement of the partsnto permit the folding step to swing upward from the horizontal position (illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings) to a vertical position between IOO the hanger bars and to swing downward therefrom. The supporting-bars are provided with inwardly -extending flanges 20, which are perforated for the reception of fastening devices for securing the step 2l to them. The step may consist of one or more pieces of wood or any other material, as will be readily understood. When the step 21 is swung upward between the hanger-bars from the position illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the hanger-bars are then adapted to be swung upward to a horizontal position and to be moved inward to arrange the parts, as illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 5 of the drawings. The front rod 7, which connects the sides or plates 1, is located slightly in rear of the front ends of the slots 6 and at a point below the same, and when the hanger-bars are drawn outward to arrange the step in the position shown in Fig. 4 they will engage the front rod, which will force them tothe extreme front ends of the slots. It also forms a stop to prevent the step from moving inward accidentally from the position illustrated in Fig. 4. lVhen thestep is arranged as shown in Fig. 4, the arms 13 at the upper ends of the hanger or riser bars engage the lower sides of the springs 4 to form stops for preventing the lower portions of the hangerbars from swinging rearward. The lugs 1S and 19 also limit the upper or inward movement of the step 21 and support the same in a substantiallyhorizontal position when the parts are folded. The end of the upper side of each spring is beveled or cut away at 22 to enable the clamp to be readily engaged with the stationary step of a car and to permit the spring to be made ofa strength to hold it in engagement with the stationary step when the folding step is pulled outward, as hereinafter explained, without requiring tools o1' other means for applying it to the step.

The step 2l is locked in its folded position by means of a pivoted catch 23, mounted between ears or flanges 24 of a plate 25 and hav ing inner and outer arms arranged at an obtuse angle to each other. The outer arm is beveled to provide a pointed end or tooth 26 for engaging the lower face of the stationary step 5, and it is adapted to embed itself in the same, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The inner arm of the catch is connected by a rod 27 with an operating-lever or trigger 28, pivoted between its ends at 29 to flanges or ears 30 of a plate 3l, which is secured to the step 2l and which is provided with a lug or flange 32 for the purpose hereinafter described. The operating lever or trigger and the perforated ears or flanges are arranged in a slot or opening of the step 2l, and one end of the trigger or lever is shaped into a grip or handle and is adapted to be engaged by the finger of the operator. The other end of the trigger or lever is arranged to engage the rod 27, which is provided with a head 33 and which passes through a guide 34. The guide 34 consists of an L-shaped plate secured to the step and provided with a perforation to receive the rod 27, and a coiled spring 35 is interposed between the guide and the head 33 of the rod and is arranged on the latter. The spring is adapted to hold the catch in position for engaging the stationary car-step, and it maintains the catch in such engagement until the trigger or operating-lever is moved by the operator in the direction of the stop, lug, or flange 32. The operator grasps the handle portion of the trigger or lever and pulls the same outward when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 5 until the handle portion engages the lug or flange 32. This movement reciprocates the rod 27 and throws the toothed or engaging portion of the catch out of engagement with the stationary step, and thereby releases the movable step. A continued outward pull on the trigger or operating-lever draws the movable step outward, and the parts are adapted to be readily arranged as shown in Fig. 4. In folding the parts the trigger is held by the operator to permit the catch to clear the stationary step, and as soon as the trigger is released the catch will be thrown into engagement by the spring. Any tendency of the step to move outward and upward along the inclined portion of the slot will operate to carry or force the catch more rmly in engagement with the stationary step, so that it will be impossible for the movable step to be accidentally thrown outward by the vibration of the car. The trigger and the lug 32 extend upward from the upper face of the movable step when the parts are arranged as shown in Fig. 4, and the said trigger is located at the hinged or rear edge between the hanger or riser bars, so that it will be out of the way. The catch and the adjacent parts of the locking mechanism are located at the lower face of the movable step when the latter is arranged as shown in Fig 4.

It will be seen that the device is exceedngly simple and inexpensivein construction, that it possesses great strength and durability, and that it is adapted to be readily applied to and removed from the stationary step of a car. step is iirmly held in its foldedpositionand that it is securely supported in position for use and that it is adapted to readily slide inward and outward. The rod which connects the slides causes the same to move inward and outward simultaneously and prevents them from twisting or binding in the ways formed by the inclined slots. The rod is also adapted to receive and support the movable step when the latter is folded between the hanger or riser bars.

What is claimed isy l. A folding car-step provided with a pair of horizontallydisposed approximatelyl U- shaped springs forming'clamps and arranged to frictionally engage a stationaryv car-step,f

" whereby the folding car-step is detachably secured to the same, substantially as described.

IOO

IIO

It will also be clear that the 2. The combination ofa pair of horizontallydisposed approximately U shaped clamps arranged to detachably engage a stationary car-step, sides depending from the clamps, a movable step, and means for connecting the movable step with the said sides, substantially as described.

3.The combination of sides having slots forming ways, slides operating in the Ways, hanger-bars pivotally connected with the slides, a step connected with the hanger-bars, and a fixed device located' below` the way's and arranged to be engaged by the hangerbars, whereby the slides willbe forced to the -outer ends of the ways, substantially as described. Y

4. The combination of sides or plates provided with slots and having Vflanges at their tops, resilient clamps secured tothe flanges and arranged to Aengage a stationary step, slides operating in the slots, hanger-bars pivotally connected with the slides and provided at their upper or inner ends with arms to form stops, a movable step, and supportingbars connected with the movable stepand` pivotally connected withV the hanger-bars,` said bars being providedwith means for limiting their pivotal movement, substantially as described.

5. A movable step, hanger-bars pivotally. connected with the step, means for pivotally and slidably connecting the hanger-bars with the stationary step of a'car, a locking device to'be secured to a stationary step and pro- Y vided with inclined ways, a movable step operating in the .ways and foldable within the support, and a locking device arranged upon the movable stepwhen the latter is folded and engaging the stationary step in position to be forced into the same by the outward movement of the movable step, substantially as described.

7. The combinationof a foldable step arranged at an inclination when folded, a, pivoted locking device located at the ,upperface ofthe foldable step in position for engaging the stationary step when the parts are folded, and an operating device arranged at the outer edge of the foldable step when the parts are folded and at-the inner edge of the samev when the movable step is in position foruse, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claimthe foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' GEORGE ERNEST CUNNINGHAM.

Witnesses:

` H. C." HoLsT, y

GEO. V. BEALL. 

